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GameMastery Module E1: Carnival of Tears (OGL)
Paizo Publishing, LLC
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Print Edition:
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$12.99
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PDF:
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$8.99
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An event-based adventure for 5th-level characters.
Falcon's Hollow has long been watched by the vile fey of Darkmoon Vale. They've lingered in their wood, seething with anger at the townspeople for defiling their land. When the carnival arrives, the fey finally see their chance for vengeance.
Carnival of Tears is a low-level, event-based adventure written by Nicolas Logue and Tim Hitchcock that pits the players against a band of wretched fey who have infiltrated a carnival in order to unleash their anger on Falcon's Hollow. When the heroes uncover the dark secrets within, will they act in time to prevent Falcon's Hollow from becoming the carnival's final patrons?
GameMastery Modules are 32-page, high-quality, full-color, OGL-compatible adventures for use with the world's most popular fantasy RPG. All GameMastery Modules include four pre-made characters so players can jump right into the action, and full-color maps to enhance play.
Are there errors or omissions in this product information? Got corrections? Let us know at
webmaster@paizo.com.
Product Reviews
Average product rating:
 
(4.6)
based on
19
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Nick Logue and Tim Hitchock writing an adventure together?! Holy crap, the end is nigh!
These two sick MFers can come up with some straight up disturbing stuff. This is a must buy just to see where their sick minds went with this one.
Buy it! Run it! But you and your players will never be able to look at fey that same way ever again. BEWARE!
So I wrote this all inclusive review that got eated by the Paizo gremlins and I'm finally gettin back to doin another one, so here we go again.
Freakin great Adventure. This is defiantly one of those encounters that players will remember a long time and recant tales from for many years.
The events are non linear, so give the book a good read and get to know the NPCs as your party can encounter them in almost any order.
Your players MUST role-play a bit of this to enjoy the full experience of the carnival which I truly enjoy. I am really looking forward to throwing this at a few of my ROLL players and letting them see there is more to this game than dice.
There are some great new magical items to check out, and a menagerie of memorable NPCs. DnD hands out XP, this adventure hands out an experience.
Everyone loves the fun of the fair... and in this adventure, visitors get more than they bargained for. Not everything is as cheerful as it seems and evil fey are poised to take advantage of the unexpected.
As an 'event' based adventure, all the action takes place in and around the fairground, and the characters have a free hand as to where they go and what they do. All you need is provided in two indexed sections, the first being the carnival as it should be and the second in its perverted form. The people to be encountered, what they are doing and their likely reaction to the characters is all there. There is also a list of competitions and events to watch or to particpate in, as the characters prefer.
As the evening draws in it is not only the night that gets darker and colder - and it is up to the characters to prevent the carnage that will ensue. A strong stomach as well as a strong sword-arm is required.
This is a good adventure to add horror to your campaign where it will be least expected, a shocking perversion of what ought to be a relaxing, fun-filled evening. The underlying plot is strong, and rewards for success based on satisfaction at saving the township rather than monetary reward.
Im not writing another one. Its good.
I'll admit that my expectations were rather low, mostly because I've never seen the "bad circus" theme done well through 15 years of playing the game. However, I was very pleasantly surprised by this adventure. This is due to a grounding of the events in the community Falcon's Hollow, and a lot of focus on the atmosphere of the events. Not having played it yet, I suspect that it is rather short, which is not necessarily a weakness. It is original, but there are elements in it that some might find too macabre, or a bit anachronistic, perhaps. All in all, well recommended.
This is one wicked little module. Perhaps not for everyone, as it is grim, gruesome and gloomy... All the more fitting that it starts out as a comical diversion for the hardened adventurer!
Now, without spoiling too much, let me just skirt the specific details here. The module is an 'event' adventure, but is pretty much tied to Falcon's Hollow too. Not that it can't be lifted, but I figured it should be mentioned.
There will be casualties... Lots of them... In nasty ways. Can't really avoid saying this. It is a rather nasty module in places, and certainly not for the fairytale fantasy crowd (despite being full of fae!) who like to keep things light. It'd take some rewriting to fit that style.
But if you don't mind a little dark and macabre nastiness, then this is a fun module. Not as deadly to PCs as some have been either, but amidst the chaos and entrails it might be hard to tell!
You have been warned... But hopefully not warned off.
...but chain him to a desk and make him write more of this for me while he is at it.
To be fair, much of the imagery here may come from Mr. Hitchcock. In any case, there were several "shudder" moments that gave me pause. This module captures dark fey perfectly...I can't wait to inflict...err, run this.
One thing I do have to say about Mr. Logue's work: the outcomes seem relentlessly bad no matter how well the players do, which could get old. Easily changed, and not worth losing a star over, but worth mentioning. Someone needs to give Nic a hug... :D
This is very creative and bloodthirsty module, which I am very much looking forward to trying out with my players as a follow on to D1 Crown of the Kobold King, when they make it back to Falcon's Hollow.
Because it is set in one location, it releases the GM to worry about the interactions more than where the players are going to next. I think it will play a little bit shorter than D1 (and D0), but I guess time will tell. EDIT: Having run it now, it has taken about 2/3 of the time of D1 Crown of the Kobold King.
A "must have" purchase imho, if you have some good roleplayers and problem solvers in your group, but warn them beforehand that it's not for the faint-hearted.
I'd been looking forward to this one since it appeared on the products list a few months ago. Not only do I absolutely adore fey - especially nasty, evil fey - but I was looking forward to the first Event-based adventure.
I read this module from start to finish and was INCREDIBLY happy with my purchase.
The half-evlen instigator of the adventure's horrible events has appropriate motivations, the events as written flow easily, and everything culminates into a scene of terror and bloodshed unlike anything you'd expect to see from a bunch of faeries!
The original monsters in this adventure are great - especially the final "boss" monster. However, there's plenty of other interaction both before and after the nightmarish slayings begin. This adventure even has a chase scene as the heroes try to catch the villain's quickling henchman.
I can't say much more without giving away the plot - but I highly recommend this adventure! Take a break from dungeon crawling and let your players explore the Carnival of Tears.
Product Discussion
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posts.
See all discussion for this product.
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Oh my, the Quickling just might sell this module to me. I've got a campaign running and the current BBEG is a Quickling named Asyr'Ala. I'd love to have a little bit more stuff on Quicklings if I could, but then there is the time it will take the module to get to the Netherlands. So what should I do?
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Tio wrote:
... but then there is the time it will take the module to get to the Netherlands. So what should I do?
Buy the pdf instead?
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Hopefully Paizo will state that they used very similar stats to the ones I found at EN World. Cos those are the stats I'm using.
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Tio wrote:
Hopefully Paizo will state that they used very similar stats to the ones I found at EN World. Cos those are the stats I'm using.
Hey Tio,
We used the OGL stats from the revised Tome of Horror.
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Fairly disappointed with this one.
Is there a way to exclude his modules from the Gamemastery subscription service? It's gotten to the point now where I know I won't like his modules.
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Tio
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder Fiction Subscriber),
Tim Hitchcock
(Contributor),
